Computinc chart



Sept. 5, 1933. w E NOYD 1,925,703

COMPUTING CHART Filed March 28, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l m/1mm: 5 W211 T/FRE Now,

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Sept. 5, 1933. w E. NOYD 1,925,703

COMPUTING CHART Filed March 28, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MATE/e Z. Nam,

Patented Sept. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to computing charts, and it has for its object to provide an improved device of this character, constructed in such manner that a merchant may easily and quickly determine the cost of an article, of a given weight, at a given price per pound, or fraction thereof,

or the price of a given number of articles, at a given price per unit. More particularly the de vice of the present invention is intended to render it possible for a merchant to ascertain the selling costs or the cost at which the merchandise can be sold taking into consideration the overhead. A merchant, by comparing his actual daily overhead With his actual daily receipts can readily deter- 1 mine the percentage of the selling price or moneys received which it costs him to operate. For example, if he takes in $100.00 a day and his operating overhead per day is $20.00 it follows that twenty per cent of his receipts go for operating costs. If he wishes to make a net profit of $10.00 per day, by adding that amount to his overhead making a total of $30.00, he knows that the merchandise must not cost him more than seventy per cent of his receipts or selling price. Accordingly, if a merchant desires thirty per cent of his receipts to represent operating overhead and profit he can by using the computing device of the present invention readily and quickly determine the price at which each article must be sold.

The chart of the present invention is also useful in figuring percentages.

Further objects and advantages of the inven tion will be set forth in the detailed description which follows.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view,

Fig. 2 is a front view,

Fig. 3 is an end view of the casing and asso- 0 ciated parts in which the chart is used, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the chart. Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawings.

In carrying out the invention I provide a housing or casing, consisting of the box-like receptacle 5, having end walls 6, top '7, and hinged cover sections 8, the latter being mounted upon hinge rods 9. A pair of rollers is located within the casing and rotation in unison may be imparted to 50 these rollers by pulleys l1 and belt 12, said pulleys being mounted upon shafts 13 of the rollers and said shafts, in turn, being journaled in the end walls of the housing. Knobs 14 are provided for imparting rotation to the pulleys, and consequently, for imparting rotation to the rollers. A chart 15 (see Fig. 4) is adapted to be wound from one to the other of the rollers, and vice versa, said chart being subdivided, as shown, and the graduation being carried out to any extent or degree. The manner of graduation and numbering is indicated upon the chart though some of the figures have been omitted. It will be observed that the chart is divided by a relatively heavy line 16 into a chart section A and a chart section B. I, preferably, print the figures in the column 1'7 in red ink, and the figures in column 18 in black ink. A a slide 19 is mounted upon the top of the casing and is adapted to slide in ways 20, to the right or the left, as the case may be. When slid in one direction it covers the column 17 and when slid in the other direction it covers the column 18, this covering of one of the columns tending to avoid confusion in the reading of the numerals, as hereinafter described.

In practice, the chart will be more than nine feet in length, and as one of the rollers lets the chart ofi, the other roller takes it up. An upper sight wire 20 and a lower sight wire 21 extend longitudinally along the casing and are engaged with a tension adjusting screw 22. The tension of the wires is adjusted by being wound about the screw as the same is turned in much the same manner that the tension of a piano wire is adjusted by the turning movement of an element to which it is attached. These sight wires aid in the accurate reading of the chart, since said wires are visible through a sight opening that is covered by a glass 23. A support rod 24, preferably, extends longitudinally of the casing, beneath the web which constitutes the chart.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The figures indicated at E and F, and arranged along the edges of the sight opening indicate for example, a price per pound for the A and B charts, respectively, and the remaining figures on the chart are so located as to give the proper reading at the intersection of the vertical columns of the chart aligned with the said figures E and F, and horizontal lines extended from the figures in the columns 17 or 18, as the case may be.

It is apparent that the same principle may be employed in figuring percentages. For example, if a man wishes to know the cost of an article that sold for $28.00, and he knows that the gross profit is 15%; then 15% from 100% leaves or the cost. Therefore, by rolling the chart on its rollers to the position 85 in the middle column 18, the figure which appears directly under the sight wire in column 28 of the 13 chart, along the corresponding chart B, would be $23.80, the cost, which is 85% of the selling price. It is not to be understood that these particular figures are to be found on the accompanying chart. The foregoing is merely an explanation of how the foregoing arrangement can be used in figuring percentages.

The B portion of the chart cooperates in any position with scale E when scale E is read in connection with column 1'7 and the A portion cooperates in any position with said scale F when said scale isireadiin connection with column 18. The indicia in columns 17 and 18 are proportional in the ratio of 3 to 4, and the indioia in E and F are proportional in the same ratio. Accordingly the operator may use either column 1'? or 18 and the corresponding row E or F'and obtain the same result, provided, however, that he can find duplicate sets of figures in the twocoiumns and the two rows or scales;

The reason for combining the two sets is for the purpose of getting a wider rangeof prices, for example, by using scale Eand column 17 we are dealing in units of 100;, similarly by using the column 18 on which the distance from 1 to "(5 equals the corresponding.distancefrom 1' to 100. on 17 and'using each column in connection with its corresponding scale E or F webreak up ourv figures into smaller or fractional units of equal size andin this wayv are able to make our computations with a much larger variation of numbers while still keeping our device from becoming so large that its efficiency is lost; The. purpose of' using the twoor'more columns of figures is to make a short and compact usable device instead of one so large as to be cumbersome and unwieldy andv therefore impracticable.

In the drawings shown of' the device the. scale F'of'Fig. 1 extends the whole distance across the device and runs to 50 for the'reason' that the merchant in his business seldom uses a price figure above 50, but. if he does, by usingthe other scale Eand disregarding'his fractions his'numbers rapidly increase, as for instance, the first figure at the left is 1.5 which can just as well read 15; the next figure is2.25 which can'justias readily be read 225. In that way-the scale E read with column 17 gives us either fractional units or by disregarding the fractions'gives' us'larger numbers to deal with, where if only one scale and one columnof figures were used'gthe chart A wouldbe lengthened to such an extent that it would be slowandcumbersome'to'use. andtherefore impracticable.

I preferably print the figures in column 17 in red ink to be read in connection with the figures in scale E which are also printed in red; e. g., to multiply the number of pounds in column 17 (8) by the price per pound in scale E (15) (result 120) is shown on the chart A directly opposite the figure 15 in scale E when the number 8 in column 17 is directly under the sight wire. In a similar way column 18 and scale F are printedin black and are read together, the purpose" of the computing device being to multiply any number in column 17 by any number in scale E finding the result on the chart A directly opposite the desired number in scale E.

It: is. to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth, but that" it includes within its purview whatever changes fairlyv come within either the terms or the spirit of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim 1. The combination with a casing having a sight opening extending longitudinally thereof, of sighting means extending substantially the full length of'said sight opening, a traveling chart mounted in said casing to traverse said sight opening transversely thereof, said chart havinga plurality of sets-of columns of indicia, a row of fixed numbers disposed longitudinally upon the casing along one entire edge of thesight opening, cooperating with one set of chart columns, and a second row of fixed numbers disposed along the other entire-edge of the sight opening and co-operating with the second set of chart columns.

2. The combination with a casing having a sight opening extending longitudinally thereof, of sighting means extending substantially the full length of said sight opening, a traveling chart mounted in said casing to traverse said sight opening transversely thereof, said chart having a plurality of sets of columns of indicia, a row of fixed numbers disposed longitudinally upon the casing along one entire-edge of the sight opening, co-operating with one-set of chart columns, a second row of fixed numbers disposed along the other entire edge of the sight opening and cooperating with the second set of chart columns, and a slidable shutter mounted intermediately of said sight opening for indicating-which set of chart columns is to be read in association with a pre-selected row of fixed numbers.

WALTER E. NOYD. 

